Friday, 13 September 2013

Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Grading

To many teachers (and students), “assessment” simply means
giving students tests and assigning them grades. This conception of assessment
is not only limited, but also limiting (see section below on Assessment versus
grading). It fails to take into account both the utility of assessment and its
importance in the teaching/learning process.

In the most general sense, assessment is the process of
making a judgment or measurement of worth of an entity (e.g., person, process,
or program). Educational assessment involves gathering and evaluating data
evolving from planned learning activities or programs. This form of assessment
is often referred to as evaluation (see section below on Assessment versus
Evaluation). Learner assessment represents a particular type of educational
assessment normally conducted by teachers and designed to serve several related
purpose (Brissenden and Slater, n.d.). These purposed include:

motivating and directing learning

providing feedback to student on their performance

providing feedback on instruction and/or the curriculum

ensuring standards of progression are met

Learner assessment is best conceived as a form of two-way
communication in which feedback on the educational process or product is
provided to its key stakeholders (McAlpine, 2002). Specifically, learner
assessment involves communication to teachers (feedback on teaching); students
(feedback on learning); curriculum designers (feedback on curriculum) and
administrators (feedback on use of resources).

For teachers and curriculum/course designers, carefully
constructed learner assessment techniques can help determining whether or not
the stated goals are being achieved. According to Brissenden and Slater (n.d.),
classroom assessment can help teachers answer the following specific questions:

To what extent are my students achieving the stated goals?

How should I allocate class time for the current topic?

Can I teach this topic in a more efficient or effective way?

What parts of this course/unit are my students finding most
valuable?

How will I change this course/unit the next time I teach it?

Which grades do I assign my students?

For students, learner assessment answers a different set of
questions (Brissenden and Slater, n.d.):

Do I know what my
instructor thinks is most important?

Am I mastering the course content?

How can I improve the way I study in this course?

What grade am I earning in this course?

Why Assessment is Important

First and foremost, assessment is important because it
drives students learning (Brissenden and Slater, n.d.). Whether we like it or
not, most students tend to focus their energies on the best or most expeditious
way to pass their ‘tests.’ Based on this knowledge, we can use our assessment
strategies to manipulate the kinds of learning that takes place. For example,
assessment strategies that focus predominantly on recall of knowledge will
likely promote superficial learning. On the other hand, if we choose assessment
strategies that demand critical thinking or creative problem-solving, we are
likely to realize a higher level of student performance or achievement. In
addition, good assessment can help students become more effective self-directed
learners (Angelo and Cross, 1993).

As indicated above, motivating and directing learning is
only one purpose of assessment. Well-designed assessment strategies also play a
critical role in educational decision-making and are a vital component of
ongoing quality improvement processes at the lesson, course and/or curriculum
level.

Types and Approaches to Assessment

Numerous terms are used to describe different types and
approaches to learner assessment. Although somewhat arbitrary, it is useful to
these various terms as representing dichotomous poles (McAlpine, 2002).

Formative

<--------------------------------->

Summative

Informal

<--------------------------------->

Formal

Continuous

<---------------------------------->

Final

Process

<--------------------------------->

Product

Divergent

<--------------------------------->

Convergent

Formative vs.
Summative Assessment

Formative assessment is designed to assist the learning
process by providing feedback to the learner, which can be used to identify
strengths and weakness and hence improve future performance. Formative
assessment is most appropriate where the results are to be used internally by
those involved in the learning process (students, teachers, curriculum developers).

Summative assessment is used primarily to make decisions for
grading or determine readiness for progression. Typically summative assessment
occurs at the end of an educational activity and is designed to judge the
learner’s overall performance. In addition to providing the basis for grade
assignment, summative assessment is used to communicate students’ abilities to
external stakeholders, e.g., administrators and employers.

Informal vs. Formal
Assessment

With informal assessment, the judgments are integrated with
other tasks, e.g., lecturer feedback on the answer to a question or preceptor
feedback provided while performing a bedside procedure. Informal assessment is
most often used to provide formative feedback. As such, it tends to be less threatening
and thus less stressful to the student. However, informal feedback is prone to
high subjectivity or bias.

Formal assessment occurs when students are aware that the
task that they are doing is for assessment purposes, e.g., a written examination
or OSCE. Most formal assessments also are summative in nature and thus tend to
have greater motivation impact and are associated with increased stress. Given
their role in decision-making, formal assessments should be held to higher
standards of reliability and validity than informal assessments.

Continuous vs. Final
Assessment

Continuous assessment occurs throughout a learning
experience (intermittent is probably a more realistic term). Continuous
assessment is most appropriate when student and/or instructor knowledge of
progress or achievement is needed to determine the subsequent progression or
sequence of activities. Continuous assessment provides both students and
teachers with the information needed to improve teaching and learning in
process. Obviously, continuous assessment involves increased effort for both
teacher and student.

Final (or terminal) assessment is that which takes place
only at the end of a learning activity. It is most appropriate when learning
can only be assessed as a complete whole rather than as constituent parts.
Typically, final assessment is used for summative decision-making. Obviously,
due to its timing, final assessment cannot be used for formative purposes.

Process vs. Product
Assessment

Process assessment focuses on the steps or procedures
underlying a particular ability or task, i.e., the cognitive steps in
performing a mathematical operation or the procedure involved in analyzing a
blood sample. Because it provides more detailed information, process assessment
is most useful when a student is learning a new skill and for providing
formative feedback to assist in improving performance.

Product assessment focuses on evaluating the result or
outcome of a process. Using the above examples, we would focus on the answer to
the math computation or the accuracy of the blood test results. Product
assessment is most appropriate for documenting proficiency or competency in a
given skill, i.e., for summative purposes. In general, product assessments are
easier to create than product assessments, requiring only a specification of
the attributes of the final product.

Divergent vs. Convergent Assessment

Divergent assessments are those for which a range of answers
or solutions might be considered correct. Examples include essay tests, and
solutions to the typical types of indeterminate problems posed in PBL.
Divergent assessments tend to be more authentic and most appropriate in
evaluating higher cognitive skills. However, these types of assessment are
often time consuming to evaluate and the resulting judgments often exhibit poor
reliability.

A convergent assessment has only one correct response (per
item). Objective test items are the best example and demonstrate the value of
this approach in assessing knowledge. Obviously, convergent assessments are
easier to evaluate or score than divergent assessments. Unfortunately, this
“ease of use” often leads to their widespread application of this approach even
when contrary to good assessment practices. Specifically, the familiarity and
ease with which convergent assessment tools can be applied leads to two common
evaluation fallacies: the Fallacy of False Quantification (the tendency to
focus on what’s easiest to measure) and the Law of the Instrument Fallacy
(molding the evaluation problem to fit the tool).

Assessment versus Evaluation

Depending on the authority or dictionary consulted,
assessment and evaluation may be treated as synonyms or as distinctly different
concepts. As noted above, if a distinction exists, it probably involves what is
being measured and why and how the measurements are made. In terms of what, it
is often said that we assess students and we evaluate instruction. This
distinction derives from the use of evaluation research methods to make judgments
about the worth of educational activities. Moreover, it emphasizes an
individual focus of assessment, i.e., using information to help identify a
learner's needs and document his or her progress toward meeting goals.

In terms of why and how the measurements are made, the
following table (Apple & Krumsieg, 1998) compares and contrasts assessment
and evaluation on several important dimension, some of which were previously
defined.

The bottom line? Given the different meaning ascribed to
these terms by some educators, it is probably best that whenever you use these
terms, you make your definitions clear.

Assessment versus Grading

Based on the above discussion, grading grading could be
considered a component of assessment, i.e., a formal, summative, final and
product-oriented judgment of overall quality of worth of a student's
performance or achievement in a particular educational activity, e.g., a
course. Generally, grading also employs a comparative standard of measurement
and sets up a competitive relationship between those receiving the grades. Most
proponents of assessment, however, would argue that grading and assessment are
two different things, or at least opposite pole on the evaluation spectrum. For
them, assessment measures student growth and progress on an individual basis,
emphasizing informal, formative, process-oriented reflective feedback and
communication between student and teacher. Ultimately, which conception you
supports probably depends more on your teaching philosophy than anything else.